[stupac2]

Among pre-season top 25 teams, only North Carolina (pre-season No. 23), Stanford (pre-season No. 11) and South Carolina (pre-season No. 9) don't have winning records. Each of these teams is 5-5.

My point is that--even attempting to look at things from a neutral perspective--Stanford's season should feel really, really painful. Don't let anybody tell you anything different.

Right, this season should feel painful. The point that I'm trying to get across to people (and I think I'm failing) is that painful seasons are inevitable. Even if the coaching staff is top-notch, even if they're developing talent well, even if they're recruiting well, there are going to be seasons where things don't totally click, where you don't get lucky, and where you end up not doing well. We're like 5 plays away from being 8-2 and everyone's talking about how great everything is. I think that being that outcome-oriented and not looking at the big picture of "we weren't going to win 80% of our close games forever" is the wrong way to look at it.

If we lose to Cal then we can panic.

[stupac2]

Among pre-season top 25 teams, only North Carolina (pre-season No. 23), Stanford (pre-season No. 11) and South Carolina (pre-season No. 9) don't have winning records. Each of these teams is 5-5.

My point is that--even attempting to look at things from a neutral perspective--Stanford's season should feel really, really painful. Don't let anybody tell you anything different.

Right, this season should feel painful. The point that I'm trying to get across to people (and I think I'm failing) is that painful seasons are inevitable. Even if the coaching staff is top-notch, even if they're developing talent well, even if they're recruiting well, there are going to be seasons where things don't totally click, where you don't get lucky, and where you end up not doing well. We're like 5 plays away from being 8-2 and everyone's talking about how great everything is. I think that being that outcome-oriented and not looking at the big picture of "we weren't going to win 80% of our close games forever" is the wrong way to look at it.

If we lose to Cal then we can panic.